Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Excuse Me While I Whip This Out

Film fans will tell you, with no prompting (and even in the face of significant discouragement) how the 70s were the golden age of American cinema. They'll cite The Godfather Parts i & II, Jaws, Taxi Driver, maybe Star Wars, but they never mention the one classic from the decade that will NEVER be remade: Blazing Saddles. Westerns before and after have given, at best, a cursory nod to the ignorance and racism that underpinned the Wild West, but Blazing Saddles made no bones about it -- while also being one of the funniest movies of the last 35 years.

Random trivia: Of all the offensive jokes in the movie, the studio execs were most horrified by a man punching a horse.

Queue it, stream it, buy it, however you get your flicks, but watch it. And then after his next motivational speech, tell your boss "you use your tongue prettier than a $20 whore." If s/he doesn't laugh, you didn't want to work for him/her, anyway.